Bricks & Ivy: Stanley Cup gives Cubs hope

Bricks & Ivy: Stanley Cup gives Cubs hope

If the 2010 Stanley Cup champs have taught us a lesson...it's that ANYTHING is possible. Five years ago this franchise was dormant. The wins were few and far between. Now they are the toast of the town with a ticker tape parade that left everyone in awe.

You can't help but wonder, what will happen if.....WHEN....the Cubs finally break the curse?

I'm not saying they are close....I'm just saying when the day comes...and it WILL eventually come...how will we all survive? The White Sox had an impressive 1.5 million. The Blackhawks partied with 2 million! What would a Cubs championship draw? How many soldiers would the National Guard have to deploy? Would the city burn down for the 2nd time?

Grant Park wouldn't cut it. Can you rent Yosemite? Would the cars back up all the way to Des Moines?

Hockey's longest championship drought is over. What will happen when baseball's does too?

The Blackhawks have given every team in professional sports hope. You CAN turn it around. Are the Cubs paying attention?

Luke Stuckmeyer covers the Cubs for Comcast SportsNet. Follow him on Twitter @CSNStucky.

Fowler spent each of the past two seasons with the Cubs and established himself as a remarkable catalyst at the top of the batting order. He made a surprise decision last offseason, re-upping with the Cubs during spring training after reports had him going elsewhere.

Fowler turned in a terrific 2016 campaign, reaching his first All-Star Game after posting a .290/.398/.483 slash line with seven homers, 19 doubles, three triples, six stolen bases, 28 RBIs and 41 runs scored in his first 64 games before a lengthy stay on the disabled list. He finished the regular season with a .276/.393/.447 slash line, 13 home runs, m48 RBIs and 84 runs scored for the 103-win Cubs.

Fowler picked up 18 hits — including three home runs — and scored 11 runs during the playoffs this past fall as the Cubs marched to their first World Series win in 108 years. He memorably belted a leadoff homer in Game 7 of the World Series, one of two home runs in that series against the Cleveland Indians.

Check out video of Fowler's speech at the Cubs' World Series rally last month in Grant Park:

Report: Buckeyes assistant Luke Fickell negotiating to become next head coach at Cincinnati

Report: Buckeyes assistant Luke Fickell negotiating to become next head coach at Cincinnati

For the second straight offseason, Urban Meyer could be losing a defensive coordinator to a head-coaching job.

Last year it was Chris Ash moving from Ohio State to become the head coach at Rutgers. Now, Luke Fickell looks like he might be leaving for the head-coaching job at Cincinnati.

BearcatReport.com, a Rivals site, reported Friday that Fickell is in negotiations to become the next head coach at Cincinnati, right down the street from the place he's spent almost the entirety of his career.

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg followed up, reporting that while Fickell and Cincinnati have talked about the opening, things might not be as imminent as the first report suggested.

Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell and Cincinnati have spoken but no contract negotiations are under way, sources tell ESPN.

While Fickell — if he were to leave — would technically become a part of the Meyer coaching tree, he's been a mainstay in Columbus since before the Buckeyes' current head coach arrived.

Fickell played at Ohio State from 1992 to 1996 and got a graduate assistant job under John Cooper in 1999. After two seasons as an assistant at Akron, Fickell returned as the Buckeyes' special teams coordinator under Jim Tressel and spent the next nine seasons as a Tressel assistant. He moved from special teams coordinator to linebackers coach in 2004 and got the title of co-defensive coordinator in 2005.

After Tressel's tenure came to a tumultuous end amid what became known as "Tattoogate," Fickell assumed the one-season role of interim head coach, leading the Buckeyes to a 6-7 record before Meyer showed up. Fickell has been a defensive coordinator under Meyer for the past five seasons, helping Ohio State to a jaw-dropping 61-5 record — including a national championship in 2014 — and coaching one of the best defenses in the country over the past several seasons.

Fickell would seem like a perfect fit at Cincinnati, which has a vacancy after the departure of Tommy Tuberville, who posted just a 4-8 record this past season. Fickell is a longtime assistant who most definitely deserves his chance, bringing that one season of head-coaching experience and a knowledge of the recruiting area.

If Fickell takes the job, he wouldn't have to wait too long to go up against his former employer and new in-state foe. The Bearcats and Buckeyes play in 2019, though that comes after Cincinnati's already-scheduled game against Michigan next season.